In the first game of 2026, NC State women’s basketball dominated Stanford with its best defensive showing of the season, holding the Cardinal to a season-low 46 points.
Despite a relatively even start, NC State (10-4, 3-0 ACC) controlled the second half and secured a 74-46 win against a good team with a good record. The Wolfpack beat the Cardinal (12-3, 1-1 ACC) in almost every metric, succeeding defensively and putting points on the board, shooting 46.7% from the field and 82.4% from the free throw line — solid numbers for a team coming out of a short break.
“The team had a six-day layoff and you never know how they’re going to respond after that,” said head coach Wes Moore. “I’m really proud of the way they came out.”
The Wolfpack dominated in the fourth quarter, scoring 23 points and holding the Cardinal to only nine. It brought energy and physicality, with double the fourth-quarter points in the paint and almost double the rebounds. The Pack shot well, going 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 47.1% from the field.
Stanford took an early lead, maintained it for the first five minutes of the game, then stayed even with NC State for much of the first half, with both teams trading the lead. The Cardinal even performed better than the Pack in some areas, with six second-chance points compared to two from the Wolfpack in the first half. The Pack flipped the script in the second half, pulling ahead to 12 total second-chance points compared to Stanford’s nine.
“I think we just need to move the ball,” said sophomore forward Tilda Trygger. “We’re playing great when we start passing the ball, and sometimes we keep it to ourselves a little too long, but then we say to each other ‘move the ball’ and I think that’s great.”
The Pack has shown improvement over the season. It started the year with some defensive struggles; however, these did not appear on Thursday. The Wolfpack forced 21 turnovers overall, had eight blocks — compared to Stanford’s one — and held the Cardinal to only 20 points in the second half.
“I feel like our defense has really taken off and it really is standing out for us,” said junior guard Zoe Brooks. “I think it also helps give us momentum on offense when we get stops, constant stops on defense. It just helps us get on the break more and have more easy opportunities to score.”
On a five-game win streak, despite some of those victories being more contentious, NC State is rolling and undefeated three games into conference play. The Pack is meeting preseason expectations, but has some tough games coming up as it gets further into the ACC slate.
“I like where we’re at,” Moore said. “We’ve survived [a tough stretch] and we just gotta keep getting better every day.”
Next up, the Wolfpack hosts California on Sunday, Jan. 4, at Reynolds Coliseum.
